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BUDGET DAY: The Office of Management and Budget puts out President Barack Obama’s FY 2013 budget request today; a White House official confirmed to MT that Obama will ask for a six-year, $476 billion surface transportation package. But the plan is DOA in a Republican House looking to knock Obama out of a job come November. Obama’s past Department of Transportation proposals haven’t fared well either: for three straight years he asked for a national infrastructure bank that still hasn’t been created. Last year he wanted a six-year, $556 billion transportation package. The White House backed the Senate’s bill last week even though it lasts only a third as long and spends two-thirds of what Obama wants each year.

War savings: What are they good for? Infrastructure (Huh!) How does the White House expect to pay for such a large infusion of surface transportation work? Let us go way, way back to … the State of the Union address a couple weeks ago. Then, the president offered using war savings to pay for infrastructure, and his budget will put specifics behind the proposal. It’s a tactic sure to invite heat from defense hawks, but will jazz up House Democrats like Nick Rahall, who have long been saying that long-term bills that keep transpo spending at “current levels” are insufficient. POLITICO’s David Rogers: http://politi.co/ApOIkK; White House fact sheet via Mike Allen: http://bit.ly/ypx9yQ

Straight from the source: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will brief reporters on the DOT budget at 1:30 p.m. today. MT will bring you the full wrap tomorrow. LaHood also appears Wednesday before the Senate Budget Committee. http://1.usa.gov/xW8IhE

DOWN TO BUSINESS: The Senate’s two-year transportation bill will see lots of floor action this week. The Banking Committee’s transit title (passed through the committee unanimously) is the only pending amendment so far and shouldn’t face major problems being attached to the Environment and Public Works Committee’s highway title, though Reuters (http://reut.rs/yvprLt) reports that John Hoeven (R-N.D.) has a Keystone XL pipeline amendment ready for launch today.

The Commerce title, including the controversial FREIGHT Act, is another story. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) voted against cloture last Thursday. She’s a major supporter of the FREIGHT Act but wants an assurance that it won’t be changed prior to coming to the floor, according to a spokesman. Because of strong Republican concerns with the language, Cantwell didn’t get that promise and therefore didn’t want to move forward on the bill.

Germane for the wrong reasons? Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has filed an amendment that would ban U.S. assistance to Egypt “unless the president certifies to Congress that the Government of Egypt is not holding, detaining, prosecuting, harassing or preventing the exit from Egypt of any person working for a nongovernmental organization supported by the United States Government, and that the Government of Egypt is not holding any property of any such nongovernmental organization.” It’s not technically transportation-related ... except that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s son is one of those detained and will face trial, meaning he could be stuck in the country for quite a while.

YOU’VE GOT FIVE HOURS: The deadline for submitting amendments for the House transportation bill is 11 a.m. today. The panel meets Tuesday at 5 p.m. to debate how many and which amendments can come up when it hits the floor Wednesday. Speaker John Boehner has promised an open process, so the bill could take several days of floor time and see dozens of amendments.

Let’s get started: 18 amendments had been submitted by the close of business on Friday. Some that jump out: A LaTourette/Carnahan collabo that would expand funding flexibility for operations (something currently included in the Senate bill), a pair of amendments James Lankford (R-Okla.) worked on that devolve transportation authority back to the states and an offering from Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) that would maintain current Surface Transportation allocations. There’s also in item that MT might term an anti-earmark from Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) that specifies H.R. 7 funds can’t be used for MUNI’s Central Subway Project in San Francisco. Peep the list: http://bit.ly/zQoWfk

Tell us how you really feel: Those amendments, combined with a “dissenting views” piece from House Dems, give a picture of just how much the bill would have to drastically change to reach bipartisan support. Overall state funding levels are a huge worry, as is what T&I members led by Rahall call a “short sighted” approach on Amtrak. There are 21 pages of concerns here, including the transit approach, environmental worries and support for LaHood’s claim that the bill waters down safety procedures. Read Democratic problems with the bill: http://bit.ly/xDYm5d

YET ANOTHER MOMENTOUS MONDAY. Thanks for waking up with a jampacked edition of POLITICO's Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and freestyle walking. If it moves, it's news. Send rumors, gossip and innuendo to asnider@politico.com and beverett@politico.com. Twitter: @BurgessEv and @AdamKSnider.

NOT ON THE SAME TRAIN: D.C. area pols aren’t the only ones railing against the plan to pay for federal transit programs with savings from federal pension plans — the House bill is going to need major changes to get transit advocates on board. “It will cripple the transit industry entirely,” Amalgamated Transit Union legislative director Jeffrey Rosenberg told MT. “The way they pay for it is just disgraceful.” Rosenberg said, “Nothing comes to mind” when asked if the massive transit union liked ANYTHING in the House bill. “For us it’s hard to see anything that's good here … it guts the transit fund, privatizes transit and provides no flexibility for operating assistance.”

Windy City worries: Republican Reps. Robert Dold, Adam Kinzinger and Judy Biggert, all from Chicagoland, have reservations about the House bill, according to Chicago Business. Lower funding levels in Illinois as well as problems with transit policy have sparked pols’ concerns; and makes hitting the 218 Republican sweet spot more difficult. http://bit.ly/yvaOo6

** A message from the Transportation Construction Coalition: The reauthorization of the federal highway and transit program has been delayed for more than 865 days. On March 31, the latest temporary extension (#8) expires. Transportation investment is the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. Failure to act could jeopardize thousands of American jobs. Our message to Congress & President Obama: “Make Transportation Job #1” and complete action on a robust, multi-year bill as soon as possible! Learn more: www.transportationconstructioncoalition.org. **

RAILROADS, TRUCKERS PLAY NICE: The freight railroad and trucking industries were locked in a heated battle over truck weight and size increases that had been in the House transportation bill until members voted to remove them in the marathon markup. Now they’re playing nice. Last week, the heads of the American Association of Railroads (which opposed the language) and the American Trucking Association (which supported it) got together and literally signed a truce. Both groups have agreed to oppose any floor amendments that target the current provision that doesn’t boost weight and size limits but calls for a three-year study of the impacts if they did so. See the one-page truce: http://bit.ly/xZJ3r4

But only after playing dirty: Former Transportation Secretary James H. Burnley IV, currently chairman of the Cleaner Safer Trucking coalition, told MT the truce should put to bed an ugly fight. “The railroads and their front groups waged a very expensive and large campaign using fear primarily,” he said. “Their primary front group right now is the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks, which is 100 percent a creature of the railroad industry. It’s a wholly owned subsidiary.” Burnley said the industry got so geared up against the trucking provisions that they couldn’t simply stop after the language was removed. “They got the language knocked out last week and they can’t help themselves. They’ve got so much money to spend, apparently. It’s like a perpetual motion machine,” he said of ads run after the markup was over. Burnley doesn’t hold any punches in explaining why things turned out the way they did: “The problem is that fear and demagoguery, when you put enough resources behind it, can overwhelm the facts and that’s exactly what happened here.”

In light of the news, we asked the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks if they plan to run more ads this week on the subject. Their response: “We are monitoring all developments closely and continue to consider all options.”

MORE WEEK AHEAD — Gassing up: The American Clean Skies Foundation joins with several natural gas groups today to ask the government to incentivize natural gas vehicles as a way to meet CAFE standards. That’s at 10:30 a.m. at the Press Club.

LaHood: The secretary will speak Tuesday at the National Association of Regional Councils annual conference. Noon at the Ritz-Carlson Hotel. http://bit.ly/xVsHxa

Safe rides: On Wednesday, House Homeland Security marks up four bills, two of which pertain to public transportation. H.R. 3140 (http://1.usa.gov/zWGtRQ) seeks to beef up security in America’s high-risk mass transit nerve centers, which would presumably include D.C. and N.Y.C. Meanwhile, H.R. 3857 (http://1.usa.gov/zWGtRQ) would allow Transit Security Grant Program funds to be used to keep together “specialized operational teams.” The markup is in 311 Canon at 10 a.m.

At 1 p.m. Thursday in 311 Canon, the Subcommittee on Transportation Security will continue examining private screening partnerships with the TSA, then immediately after get some classified testimony on the Air Marshal Service around 2 p.m. on Thursday.

Competing: GE’s “American Competitiveness: What Works” gathering kicks off today through Thursday, with the topic of transportation coming up on Tuesday afternoon in a panel on “how the aviation and rail industries must use the power of technology to stay relevant and sustainable.” RSVP here: http://bit.ly/wzzB1D

Flying lawyers: This Friday the American Bar Association holds a conference on air and space law. http://bit.ly/wWAS6V

Dotted line: The president has until the end of biz Friday to sign Congress’s FAA bill, which will officially end the parade of short-term extensions.

PUTTING IT IN CONTEXT: That CBO score of Mica’s bill last week isn’t exactly easy reading, so MT checked in with two financing experts to get the skinny. In short, it doesn’t change much and shouldn’t cause any problems on the floor. To get the big picture view, remember that CBO baselines frequently change as new laws are enacted. The baseline also assumes that Mica’s funding levels would continue through 2022 — even though the bill only runs through 2016. On top of that, CBO’s scores were for five years (through 2017), while Mica’s bill only runs for the next four years (through 2016). “It’s not even apples to apples comparable,” one expert told MT.

METRO REMINDER: There’s single-tracking on most lines this week, but no station closures. Shuttle bus lovers, you’ll have to wait another week. WMATA: http://bit.ly/wJo109

MULTI-MODAL MT READERS: Our readers are a diverse bunch when it comes to commuting. A total of 30 percent of them ride the rails to work, 23 percent drive solo, 15 percent bike and 11 percent walk. Other modes, bus and carpooling account for the remaining 20 percent of readers.

NEW MT POLL — Airfare fair? What is the most transparent way for airlines to display their prices? The current DOT rule says all prices must include the total in all ads and quotes. Should the industry be subject to the previous DOT rule, or perhaps use a simple equation to display airfare? Vote and see results: http://bit.ly/xS4JAg

P.S.: Make sure to check out MT or grab a POLITICO paper tomorrow for more on that very question.

THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ)

- Mica announces he will run in Fla.’s 7th, where Sandy Adams has also staked her reelection hopes. TN: http://bit.ly/w0thzR

JOB #1: The Americans for Transportation Mobility Coalition started a six-figure ad campaign yesterday telling Congress to “Make Transportation Job #1.” If you missed the TV ads during the Sunday talk shows, there’s still three more weeks of cable, radio and online ads. “Most people around the country agree — a surface transportation bill should be a critical component of any national jobs agenda,” ATM Coalition Vice President Janet Kavinoky said.

THE COUNTDOWN: Highway and transit policy runs out in 48 days and DOT funding in 230 days. There are 267 days before the 2012 election. It's been 866 days (and eight extensions) since SAFETEA-LU expired.

WE STAY FLY: From our POLITICO Influence (http://politi.co/xVkkw7) colleagues: Matt McCardle is leaving the House appropriations panel for Boeing. McCardle, who has worked on both the House and Senate appropriations panels, comes on board at Boeing as director of aviation and transportation, government operations.

CABOOSE — Stringing thieves along: Transit stations from Minneapolis to Portland, Ore., to Toronto have all experiment with using soothing classical music to deter crime. It’s a practice based on the “broken windows” theory — we personally prefer the bucket players outside Verizon Center, ourselves. The Atlantic: http://bit.ly/zwiYgS

** A message from the Transportation Construction Coalition: The transportation infrastructure network is the backbone of America’s economy.

Nearly 80 million American jobs in tourism, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, agriculture and forestry, general construction, mining, retailing and wholesaling rely on highways, bridges and rail systems every day. So it makes sense to get working on passage of the overdue highway and transit investment bill. A lot of working Americans are depending on it. Learn more: www.transportationconstructioncoalition.org. **